The Edge of Seventeen (BBC3, from Sunday)
Hailee Steinfeld proved magnetic in the films True Grit, Enders’ Game and Transformers spin-off, Bumblebee. She also delivers a fine performance in this coming-of-age comedy. It centres on high school misfit Nadine (Steinfeld). She is often overshadowed by her popular older brother, has just one friend, Krista, and is obsessed with a lad who does not know she exists. Just when she thinks things can’t get any worse, Nadine feels betrayed by Krista and accidentally brings herself to the attention of the crush, Nick. Could sarcastic teacher Mr Bruner be her only ally? With good support from Woody Harrelson, Kyra Sedgwick and Haley Lu Richardson, this offering from The Simpsons’ producer James L Brooks is well worth a look.
Katherine Ryan: Glitter Room (Netflix, from Monday)
The ubiquitous Canadian-Irish funnywoman has long been a comedy panel game regular. Now she’s back to raise your spirits with her second Netflix stand-up special. It’s been a couple of years since the last one, In Trouble, so fans are in for a treat as she throws everything but the kitchen sink into this show. Having toured Glitter Room across the UK with a four-week run at London’s Garrick Theatre, there’s plenty of giggles and a little controversy. After all, she divided New York’s Belasco Theatre audience on their love or dislike of the Kardashians, so who knows whether she’ll manage to stay on the right side of the masses here. Tales include following a man to Japan, and meeting her daughter’s first celebrity crush, actress Anna Kendrick.
Stranger Things Season 3 (Netflix, from Thursday)
It’s been one of the biggest streaming hits of recent years, though fans of the cult saga have had a two-year wait for this latest run. In the interrim, Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler) was a hoot in the adaptation of Stephen King’s It; Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven) went off and made Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and David Harbour (Jim Hopper) fought demonic bad guys as the new Hellboy. Now the Duffer brothers are back, helming the first two episodes of what promises to be THE must-see fantasy saga of the year. It’s summer 1985, and with the Hawkins crew on the cusp of adulthood, romance blossoms and complicates the group’s dynamic. And naturally as evil rears its ugly head again, Eleven and her friends fight back.
The Last Czars (Netflix, from Wednesday)
In the 1970s, a string of unlikely chart hits found favour with the masses. Among them was Boney M’s 1978 classic Rasputin, a ditty focusing on a friend and adviser of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family during the early 20th century. It’s hard not to hear that infectious tune while watching this full-blooded docudrama, which examines the fall of the Romanov dynasty in Russia. When social upheaval sweeps the country in the early 20th century, Nicholas II resists change, sparking a revolution and ending a dynasty. Naturally Grigori Rasputin’s presence only adds to the drama. Robert Jack, Susanna Herbert and Ben Cartwright head the cast, while assorted talking heads give their professional opinion of an extraordinary time in history.
Canny Cops (BBC3, from Wednesday)
Years of austerity have disproportionately affected the north east of England, and County Durham is now home to some of Britain’s most acute areas of deprivation. This darkly comic three-part series takes viewers into the heart of the region, as seen through the eyes of the cops and the people they police. In the first episode, local crime buster Terry takes on a new role to target offenders in the remote village of Horden. In part two, he continues to set his sights set on a well-known local resident - 26 year-old Shauna, whose house is frequented by some of the area’s well-known criminals. And in the final instalment, the police try to put a stop to the large numbers of crimes committed by heroin addicts.
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